Questions about MiFi(hot spots)

[D_E_Bishop]

I will admit that I am clueless regarding data usage and how to gauge what I am using now on my landline based dslextreme.com or what it takes to look at RV.NET for say two hours a day and to check our email accounts two or three times a day.

I would like to have MiFi, either Verizon or AT&T as we seldom are without service for at least one of our phones. Neither one of our phones are smart phones, but, we do have the cheapest prepaid plans that have unlimited service for phone calls and text.

Here is some background information. When we went to AK in 2000, we had one cellphone(the DWs because she had heart problems and I insisted) and virtually no coverage north of CA. Now I have a phone as well, although I seldom use my phone for anything. I have it because at nearly eighty and not knowing it(she says "acting it"), my DW said I have to carry the thing.

Then we bought a 10" Asus Netbook several years ago just for the RV, now we a 15" HP laptop with DVD R/W ,a small printer just for the RV. Additionally we each have a Samsung TAB A. Usually all I do is check out this site and email travel up dates. We don't look at videos and we don't have a Facebook account.

We are connected now and dammit, I do miss having something equal to our dslextreme.com service we have here in the S&B.

When I talk to folks at say, Best Buy, I explain that I just want to find out the cheapest and easiest setup I can get for travel. Their first question is how much DATA do I want. How do I know, it's really not easy to figure out. I just read this thread; Link to Full Time Forum and even though we are not FTers, I hoped to get some info on data usage and costs, but no, I'm even more befuddled now than before.

I read about costs some of you pay and when I talk to sales folks, their prices don't compare to what some of you are paying and to a person, they want to upgrade me to a smart phone or to use my tablet for wifi. They Samsung techs say, I can use my tablet for a hotspot, what I've read here is when you tether your smart phone and computer that is eats up your phone plan data. Bundle, Bundle, Bundle is all they want to talk about.

My question is if I don't know how much data I need, how do I know what plan to choose and if I use my tablet, do I have to buy a plan for that and what does it cost and is it a hotspot my DW can use for her tablet or for the laptop?

[Ductape]

On this topic, the largest data consumer for many will be the updates to device operating systems and apps. Windows in particular. Windows can be configured to not use your hotspot for updates, a non tech savvy user may need help doing so.

Streaming video is about the only thing consuming more.

[Yeti_plus]

I am speaking from a Canadian perspective, not sure if US companies are the same. I can check my data usage at home by logging in to my account on the internet provider's website and seeing what my data usage is. I can go back 6 months easily and I based my wifi needs on that data when we went to Alaska in 2016.
I bought an ATT UNLOCKED hotspot off the internet. Set it up with a tabletplan on Bell for Canada. The tablet plan is "ramped". Costs $5/month for the first 100MB then once that is surpassed up to 1 gig for ??, and then 5 gig for a total of $50 / month. Yes Canadian cell prices are outrageous, but this seemed to be the best of the bunch for travelling in the North.
When we got to Alaska, I went into an ATT store and got a sim card and a pay as you go data plan, that we used through Alaska and then renewed when we got to Washington on our way home across the States.
ATT has changed their plans and I now get 5 Gig of data on my pay as you go unlocked phone and we didn't top up the hotspot when we went to the US the last couple times. I can make my phone a hotspot and share data to the tablet and computers.
The big data eater is automatic updates. I found out that they chew lots of data and our usage spiked on a couple of days, so I set updates to manual and we don't have those spikes.
Like you I check this website (way too much somedays) and email and DW checks email and her favourite things and 5 gigs is okay until the updates kick in.
I think you might be better off checking at a phone company store, rather than a Best Buy. The ATT stores I have been in weren't busy, I was the only customer, and the employees were happy to have someone to talk to and explained everything I could ask about.

[Bill_Satellite]

This information is still listed on one of the AT&T sites....

AT&T Connected Car Unlimited Plan: U.S. only. Consumer and Individual Responsibility Users only. Eligibility: Requires eligible vehicle, eligible aftermarket device and new or existing AT&T wireless account. Data Restrictions: After 22GB of data usage on vehicle Wi-Fi hotspot in a bill cycle, for the rest of the cycle AT&T may slow data speeds on vehicle Wi-Fi hotspot during periods of network congestion. Pricing: $20 per aftermarket device monthly plan charge (3 aftermarket devices on plan results in $60 monthly plan charge). Devices: Sold separately. Limits: 3 aftermarket devices per plan. Hotspot: Connects up to 5 Wi-Fi capable devices per vehicle hotspot. Devices connected to vehicle’s hotspot use data from your plan. Once a device connects, it will automatically reconnect and use data from your plan unless hotspot is removed from returning device settings or hotspot password is changed. Performance varies based on number of devices connected and other factors. Video Streaming: Plan includes Stream Saver, which allows you to save data by streaming higher definition video at Standard Definition quality (about 480p). AT&T will activate it. Check your account online to see if active. You may then turn it off or back on at any time at att.com/myatt. Stream saver will not recognize all video content. Ability to stream & video resolution vary, and are affected by other factors. Restrictions apply. See att.com/streamsaver for details. International: Wi-Fi hotspot functionality not available outside of U.S. General Wireless Service Terms: Subject to Wireless Customer Agreement (see att.com/wca). Services are not for resale. Credit approval and deposit may apply. Other Monthly Charges per Line: May include taxes, fed. & state universal svc. charges, Reg. Cost Recovery Charge (up to $1.25), gross receipts surcharge, Admin. Fee, & certain gov’t assessments which are not gov’t req’d charges. Pricing, promotions & terms subject to change & may be modified or terminated at any time without notice. Coverage & svc. not avail. everywhere. You get an off-net (roaming) usage allowance for each vehicle Wi-Fi hotspot. If you exceed the allowance, your svc(s) may be restricted or terminated. Other restr’s apply & may result in svc termination.

[Dutch_12078]

EV2 wrote:
From your description you are using very little data and a base plan of about 5 gig per month should work well for you. I am not sure if it is still available, but you may wish to check on ATT Mobley. It is about $22 per month and unlimited so you can use whatever you want and access the Internet from any tablet or computer that you wish without concern for data useage.

The AT&T Mobley $20 unlimited Connected Car plan is no longer available. Those of us that have it are grandfathered in, and I have seen a few plan transfers or "rentals" offered on eBay at highway robbery prices.

[tinstartrvlr]

If it were me I would start out with the lowest plan, say 5gb, and go up if needed. They are always happy to upgrade you.

I have ATT and they send me a text and a mifi message to let me know when I have used 75 percent and then 90 percent of my data, so I just adjust my usage accordingly.

[wa8yxm]

There are apps for your computers that will monitor data usage.. in fact on many of them the WI-Fi or LAN connection thingy will show how much that unit uses.

There are programs that monitor for the entire network depending on your router but I've never used them so can not advise.

For Wi-Fi.> Well I use my phone's hot-spot and under Settings, Data Usage, it's broken out.. I'm just about at my monthly limite and one week to re-set. Not really a problem.. I loose about 20% when I max out.

[theoldwizard1]

D.E.Bishop wrote:

When I talk to folks at say, Best Buy, I explain that I just want to find out the cheapest and easiest setup I can get for travel. Their first question is how much DATA do I want. How do I know, it's really not easy to figure out.

Very true and I know of no easy way to find out !

I will tell you, that even using online email a couple of times a day and checking the weather can eat up a lot of data with advertisements. Ad blockers help. Using a email client like Microsoft Office or Mozilla Thunderbird are really the (IMHO) best way to minimize unwanted data. Yes, another email application you have to learn, but I think it will be that last one, because both of those allow you to hook to multiple email accounts SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH THE SAME CONSISTENT INTERFACE ! Setup can be a bit challenging but help is available. (Best Buy is NOT your best help location, although it is nice to talk to a real human being, face-to-face.)

The only suggestion I have is, BUY a WiFi hotspot that is supported on multiple networks (i.e. do NOT buy it from the network company) and then try some "pay as you go" (no contract) plans. After a couple of months you will get a good idea on your usage (assuming you do not change your usage habits.)


My personal favorite "pay as you go", mobile virtual network operator is Ting. $10/GB but they start at $3 for 100MB. Best thing is, if you call Ting during normal business hours a REAL HUMAN BEING ANSWERS THE PHONE usually within 3 rings ! No phone menu he!!. And, most of the time that same person can answer your questions, including technical questions. That is what I call service !!

[craftyfox]

We have a Verizon 10gig 2 month prepaid plan with a JetPack Hotspot. Have 2 computers and a tablet on it. Occasionly we use a smartphone (without a sim card) in it for games. We travel 6 months a year. This year we had exceptionally good campground WIFI along the way so our monthly time ran out before the data..usually it is pretty even. We surf, track several blogs and RV websites, do email, all our banking and Facebook. My husband uses Google Earth for almost all the camping sites so we do use it everyday.

[paulcardoza]

Pretty much all of today's mifi units will track data for you. And most will allow you to configure alerts for when you approach your monthly limit.

[MrWizard]

There are networking data tracking apps/programs for any device you have Android, iPad, windows

Download an the app to each device
It should be at zero data when you turn it on

Do everything you normally do for a couple of days
Or more

Then write down the total from each device and add them up

Any problem getting the total, bring the numbers here
We will convert the kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes
And total it for you

[Johno02]

I also had no idea about the amount of data we were using, so I bought a verizon prepaid MIFI box, and a 10GB prepaid plan. They I just watched the account to see what were were using. Turns out that the 10 GB two-month plan was just about right. We used almost all of it in the two months were were out on the road, as we approached the upper limit, we just started being more aware of how much we were using, and cut back just a bit to make it last. Returned home with less than 30 MB unused! Turned MIFI box off, then six months later bought another 10GB and went back on the road.

[EV2]

From your description you are using very little data and a base plan of about 5 gig per month should work well for you. I am not sure if it is still available, but you may wish to check on ATT Mobley. It is about $22 per month and unlimited so you can use whatever you want and access the Internet from any tablet or computer that you wish without concern for data useage.